CPS to spend $30M to help at-risk kids

September 04, 2009|By Chicago Tribune

Chicago Public Schools officials say they'll spend about $30 million to target about 1,200 high school students most at risk of committing violence or falling victim to it under a new safety and security plan outlined Thursday.

Schools CEO Ron Huberman said that by assigning full-time mentors to and getting jobs for the most at-risk students, the district can intervene before kids are enmeshed in violent behavior.

"If we don't offer enough of a carrot to alter their lifestyle, they won't bite," Huberman said.

The plan also calls for additional security money to the city's 38 most troubled high schools, where district officials said 80 percent of the homicides and shootings occur.

That includes spending more on safety and security, increasing the number of social workers and counselors and stepping back from zero-tolerance discipline policies that "have not worked," Huberman said.

The system will monitor students and attempt to make it easier for different social service agencies to come together to cut down on violent behavior. A patchwork of area agencies, including police, the Department of Children and Family Services and the juvenile justice system, touch these children's' lives in uncoordinated ways, Huberman said.

"What we need is glue, someone who is literally going to have the time," he said. The 24-7, 60-hour-a-week mentors will provide that service, he said.

The district's research found that ineffective schools tend to expel students at a higher rate and have 17 percent less parental involvement. For the 38 schools the district is focusing on, each school will have a specific plan.

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Statistics

The students Chicago Public Schools plan to target as part of a safety and security plan will be selected using risk factors like grades, attendance and serious misconduct in school, District CEO Ron Huberman told the Tribune editorial board. Based on those factors, district officials predict that 200 students have a more than 20 percent chance of being shot and another 1,000 face a 7.5 percent to 20 percent chance of the same fate.